


Reunited

by mseg_21



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, It Fandom Week, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Prompt Fic, Reddie, tiniest bit of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 21:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15804792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mseg_21/pseuds/mseg_21
Summary: Every year, on Halloween night without fault, they would come together and they would drink and talk and laugh, like nothing had changed. They never once broke the tradition, even with work and responsibilities, they never did.At least, not until this year.This year, Eddie would be spending Halloween alone in his house. No costumes, no horror movies, no losers and most importantly, no Richie.Because Richie had died three months ago and Eddie had no intent on enjoying what used to be their favorite day, if Richie wasn’t going to be there.[It Fandom Week]





	Reunited

_ Pagan Celtic tradition held that Samhain was believed to be the time of the year when the veils between this world and the Otherworld were at their thinnest.  _

_ When the spirits of those who have passed could be with the living once again.  _

_ The ancient Celts believed, on October 31st, the good spirits of the dead came back to earth, where they could reunite with their loved ones. _

* * *

 

For Eddie Kaspbrak, October 31st used to be a fun day. 

Eddie had always enjoyed dressing up and going trick-or-treating with his friends and watching horror movies all night long. And for as long as he could remember, Eddie’s Halloween nights had included his lifelong best friend, Richie Tozier. 

Halloween was Richie’s favorite day of the year. He would start counting down the days and planning his costume since September, every year. He would go all out when it came to them. When him and Eddie finally got together after years and years of pinning and bottling up their feelings for each other, Richie would go all out with  _ both  _ of their costumes because “I can’t be seen dressed up as something awesome while my boyfriend wears some fake fangs and some eyeliner and pretends to be a lame vampire, Eds.”

So Eddie would indulge him and let him take care of it and just wear whatever Richie got for him. But only after he gave him a set of rules that explicitly stated he would  _ not  _ wear anything that came from a sex shop (the year before, Richie had dressed as the big bad wolf and bought a sexy Little Red Riding Hood costume for Eddie. Needless to say, Eddie hadn’t worn the costume and had ignored Richie the entire night.) Sex shop incident aside, it was fun seeing what Richie came up with, year after year. 

As they grew older and graduated from high school and then college, they stopped going to crazy Halloween parties but they never stopped dressing up. 

When, out of their group of friends, Richie and Eddie had been the first ones to get a house- a real two-story, with a front lawn and a backyard and even a guest room kind of house- the losers would gather there on Halloween and have sleepovers like they did when they were kids. Only they weren’t kids anymore, they were in their late-twenties and they had jobs and money and they could drink. 

And on those nights, drink they did. Well, six of them. Because there was always one of them who was on candy duty, which meant they had to stay sober so that when children came trick-or-treating, they could hand out the candy and compliment their costumes. The first year, neither of them had taken it into consideration and when the McLaggen twins had rung the bell, Richie had opened the door wearing his  _ very  _ horrifying murder clown costume and terrorized their neighbor’s children. Suffice to say, the McLaggen’s now cross the street whenever they run into Richie and Eddie. 

Not wanting to end on the neighborhood's blacklist, the following year they had drawn straws to see who had to stay sober that year to make sure the children got their candy and not a ticket to therapy. Eddie found it fitting when it had been Riche who pulled the shortest straw. It had been his fault after all. 

Being an adult and living apart from each other meant it was really hard for the seven of them to be in the same place at the same time and sometimes they would go months without seeing each other, but every year on Halloween night, without fault, they would come together and they would drink and talk and laugh, like nothing had changed. They never once broke the tradition, even with work and responsibilities, they never did. 

At least, not until this year.

This year, Eddie would be spending Halloween alone in his house. No costumes, no horror movies, no losers and most importantly, no Richie. 

Because Richie had died three months ago and Eddie had no intent on enjoying what used to be their favorite day, if Richie wasn’t going to be there. 

His friends had insisted that they still show up, so that Eddie wouldn’t have to be alone during a time when Richie would be the first thing in his mind. As if Richie wasn’t the first thing in his mind  _ all the time _ . He was when he was alive, and he most certainly was now that he was gone. 

Eddie had refused, he had the first time they asked and then, the thirty following times. Them being around for Halloween would only make it worse for him, it would be a constant reminder that there were only six of them now. That Eddie’s boyfriend of eighteen years, best friend of over twenty, was gone forever. 

They had all tried to change his mind but Eddie stated that if any of them showed up at his house on Halloween, he would forcefully shut the door in their faces. He didn’t want to see anyone today. He had even sent the neighborhood association a note stating that he would not be handing out candy this year, and that if they didn’t want a grumpy man in his early thirties to yell at their children for knocking on his door, they should warn them not to go anywhere near his house. 

Which is why, when he heard noise coming from outside, he stormed to the door, ready to yell at whoever was there, to get off from his front lawn. He can’t help laughing humorlessly at what Richie would say if he was there.  

_ “You’re turning into an old man, Eds.” _

_ “You’ll get wrinkles, Eddie Spaghetti, if you keep frowning like that.” _

The thought of Richie made Eddie let out a heart-wrenching sob. 

He had been doing well without Richie, considering the circumstances. Especially with the way he had died. 

It had happened out of nowhere, a car crash when he was driving home from work one night. By the time, someone had called Eddie and he had made it to the hospital, Richie was gone. 

The following weeks had been hell on Eddie and their friends. They had all stayed with Eddie through the wake and the funeral and then, for a while as he settled into his new rhythm, supporting him and each other. But they had jobs and lives to get back to and soon enough, Eddie found himself alone in a house that was way too big and way too empty. 

But he had made it through, each day was a little easier and a little less painful than the last. He had been able to stop crying over Richie all the time. That was, until today, when the reminder of him was in every carved pumpkin, every horror movie and every Halloween decoration. Today, Eddie felt as if all the progress he had made, had disappeared and he was back to square one, downright crippled by Richie’s absence.

Eddie took a deep breath, wiped the tears from his eyes and opened the door. There was no one in his front lawn and Eddie didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He had really wanted to yell at someone. 

What he saw instead, was the teenage son from his across-the-street neighbors, building a fire in their own front lawn with his friends. They were feeding wood into the flames and dancing around it, holding hands and chanting something Eddie couldn’t hear, but he supposed was some stupid ritual from some lame horror movie. 

Eddie rolled his eyes and shut the door, letting his head drop against it as he sighed. 

All the bitterness and the anger he had been feeling reminded Eddie of the person his mother became after his father had died. Losing the love of her life had turned Sonia Kaspbrak into a shell of the person she used to be and it was doing the same to her son. It had already ruined Eddie’s love for Halloween. What used to be one of his favorite holidays, in which his house would be filled with friends and candy and liquor, was now the complete opposite. 

“Well, I still have a cabinet full of liquor.” Eddie muttered under his breath. “Might as well make use of it.”

He made his way to the living room and poured himself a glass of whiskey. Ben’s favorite. Because Richie insisted on having everyone’s favorite drink around for Halloween, even three months in advance. 

“This is for you, Richie.” Eddie said, before downing half the drink in one go. It burned his throat on the way down but Eddie couldn’t bring himself to care. He kept drinking. 

When he was younger, his tolerance for alcohol was completely non-existent, something his friends, especially Richie, would often tease him about, but as he grew older, he was able to handle more than a beer or a glass of wine before feeling a little buzzed. But whiskey? That was definitely his undoing, because after a glass, Eddie was already feeling drunk. 

He stumbled towards the fireplace. He leaned against it and grabbed one of the pictures that were displayed on top of it. It was a picture of Eddie and Richie, taken on the day they moved into this house. Stan and Mike had helped them settle in and it had been Mike who had taken the picture of the two of them standing in their front lawn, grinning and holding each other. 

Eddie traced Richie’s face with his fingers and felt the tears start to well up in his eyes.

“Damn it, Richie.” Eddie muttered, his voice hoarse, whether from the liquor or the emotions he felt, he didn’t know. “We were supposed to have years together in this house. We were supposed to get married and get a dog and- adopt some kids.” He whimpered, the more he talked, the weaker his voice got and the harder it was to hold back the tears. “That was the reason we got such a big house. So we would have enough space. Now- now there’s nothing but space, because you had to go and die on me, you stupid stupid asshole.” His voice broke in the final word and it was impossible for him to hold back the tears any longer. 

He slid down to the floor, while holding the picture against his chest. There, he sat sobbing, until the tears stopped and he started to drift off to sleep. He could hear noise coming from outside as the night advanced and people went trick-or-treating or came home from parties. He heard screams and laughter and people running down the streets, but inside the house there was only silence. 

Until there wasn’t. 

Eddie sat up, startled, when he heard the sound of his front door being unlocked and then opened. 

He dropped the picture he had been holding to the floor and grabbed the closest thing he could find, a firepoke, and held it over his shoulder as he moved as quietly as he could towards the source of the sound. 

When Eddie got to the hall, he saw there was a man inside the house. His back was to him as he carefully closed the door. It was too dark to see more than a dark silhouette. Eddie felt fear start to creep in as the man turned around. 

“Who are you?” Eddie said, making his voice as threatening as possible. “Whoever you are, you should walk out that door now, before I call the police.”

Instead of doing what Eddie told him to, the man advanced towards him. He was tall and wore a hoodie that obscured his face, so that Eddie couldn’t see it. As the man moved forward, Eddie took a couple of steps back, struggling to remember where his phone was. 

“I’m serious. Get out. Now.”

“Since when is man not welcome at his own house.” The stranger said, and the sound of his voice made Eddie drop the firepoke to the floor, the sound echoing in the silence.

Eddie felt his breathing speed up, his chest rising and falling rapidly, as he tried to wrap his mind around what was going on. 

“I- I’ve lost it. I’ve completely lost it.” He muttered, disbelievingly.  

“Eddie-” The man said moving forward and lifting his hand as if to touch him. Eddie stepped back and lifted his own hands in defense.

“No- Stay back. Whoever you are just- get away from me.” 

The man raised his hand again, but this time it went to his head and he took the hood off. 

“Eds, it’s me.” Richie said, as his face came into view. 

Eddie’s eyes widened and he felt his throat close up, making it hard to breathe. The feeling was a lot like when he was little and he would get his asthma attacks, or what he now knew were panic attacks. It had been a long time since he had one though, but Eddie figured seeing his dead boyfriend standing in front of him was reason enough to have one now.

“Fuck.” Eddie muttered. “I’m sleeping. I- I drank too much and I fell asleep and I’m dreaming or- or hallucinating.” He stumbled back and used the stairs railing to hold himself up. “You can’t be here. You’re dead.”

“Eddie, it  _ is  _ me. And I’m here. I don’t know why and I don’t know how or for how long but I’m here.”

Eddie whimpered. “But you’re dead. I- I saw your corpse. I saw them lower you to the ground at your funeral-”

Eddie could feel himself starting to lose it. He couldn’t breathe right, his vision was blurred and his legs felt like they would give out any minute. 

He saw Richie, or whoever or whatever he was, rush towards him as he lost all strength and fell backwards, catching him right before he hit the ground. 

“Eddie, Eds, come on, breathe.” He said, cradling Eddie’s face in his hands and breathing slowly, trying to get Eddie to copy his movements. “Breathe with me, baby. You’re okay. Eddie, come on.” 

It felt so much like every other time Richie had helped him during a panic attack, that for a moment Eddie forgot that he wasn’t supposed to be there, that he was dead, and let his voice calm him down. 

His breathing slowed down and the weight on his chest lifted. He opened his eyes to find Richie staring worriedly at him and Eddie was taken aback by the way his face looked exactly the same as Richie’s, when he was alive. 

Eddie didn’t know how to feel about that. When he was little, he had never believed in ghosts but now, with this man that looked, moved and talked exactly like Richie did standing in front of him, he couldn’t come up with a different explanation other than that he was his boyfriend’s ghost.

Eddie’s hand caressed Richie’s cheek and he gasped when he felt how cold his skin was. It was the only thing that reminded Eddie that this couldn’t be him, at least, not entirely. 

“Are you a- are you a ghost?”

Richie chuckled and Eddie’s heart clenched at the familiar sound. “I don’t know, I don’t feel dead if that’s what you’re asking. But I know I’m dead- was dead? I don’t know Eds. I woke up in the cemetery, lying on the ground next to my tomb, wearing the same clothes from the day I died and- this.”

He pointed at his wrist, where a watch Eddie had never seen before and that most definitely didn’t belong to Richie, was. There was nothing on it, except for the number twelve and one single handle. But it was still ticking. Counting down to midnight. 

“Midnight.” Eddie said. “The end of Halloween. Do you think-”

“That this is some Cinderella kind of shit?” 

“I- I have no idea.”

The two of them stayed silent, sitting on the floor of the hall, staring at each other, not really knowing what to do. Eddie’s expression was cautious. 

“What is it, Eds?” 

“How-” He stopped, gulped and then continued. “How do I know it’s really you?” Eddie asked and Richie’s eyebrows rose and he bore a hurt expression. “I’m not- you look like you, but you have to give me a break here, Rich, this is- this is crazy.”

Richie’s face softened. “I hear ya, babe. But it’s me. I don’t know how or why but it’s me, Richie. Your best friend since you were seven years old. Your boyfriend of eighteen years.” Eddie’s face was still conflicted and Richie sighed. “Alright. Then I’ll tell you something only you and I know. We had our first kiss on prom night, junior year. Beverly and Stan orchestrated the whole thing so we would slow dance at some point, and you drank a bit too much of the spiked punch and told me you were in love with me, then you ran out before I could even get a word out. I followed you and found you in the parking lot, having a panic attack. You had gotten rid of your inhaler and I couldn’t get you to slow down your breathing, so I just-”

“-Kissed me. You kissed me.” Eddie finished. He noticed he had been crying, tears silently falling down his face, as he heard Richie recall the story of their first kiss. Their friends knew most of what had happened, but Richie and Eddie were the only ones who knew all the details. Meaning, the person in front of him was, indeed, Richie Tozier. 

Eddie let out a sob at the realization. Then he was throwing his arms around Richie’s shoulders and crying into his neck. Richie’s arms squeezed Eddie’s waist tightly. He wasn’t crying but he was clinging to Eddie in a way that seemed like he never wanted to let go of him again. To Richie it might have felt like it was just yesterday when he died, only a couple of hours since he spoke to Eddie last, less than a day since he had held him, but he knew that to Eddie it had been months. He couldn’t imagine what he had gone through. 

“You have no idea of how much I’ve missed you, Richie.” Eddie sobbed. 

“I’m so sorry, Eds. I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to leave you.” Richie replied, trying to soothe Eddie. 

They stayed like that for a while, holding each other on the floor until Richie lifted him and lead him to the couch, where they sat together. 

“I see you didn’t decorate this year and you’re not handing out candy. Not to mention our friends aren’t here…” Richie trailed off, questioning eyes locked on Eddie.

Eddie sighed. “It didn’t feel right.” He said. They were sitting pressed against each other, but to Eddie, even that felt like too much space between them. He crawled over Richie’s lap, wrapping his arms around his shoulders, hands clasped together behind his neck. “Not without you here.”

“This used to be your favorite day, Eds. You shouldn’t- just because I’m gone doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy things.” Richie whispered, hands wrapped around Eddie’s waist, their faces inches apart from each others’. 

“I know. But- all those things remind me of you. Especially during this season. The first time I saw a carved pumpkin in the supermarket, I bursted into tears, right there in the aisle.” Eddie said, in a tiny voice, eyes welling up with tears at the memory. Back when he was alive, the sight of Eddie crying would make Richie’s heart clench up and even now, it still did. 

“I’m so sorry, baby.” Richie said, cradling Eddie’s face with one of his hands. Eddie didn’t meet his eyes, they were looking down at where Richie’s other hand rested on his thigh, he could see the watch ticking. The minutes passing by. Counting down to midnight. When he would most likely lose Richie again. 

The thought of him being gone, brought an empty feeling to Eddie’s stomach. He looked up and met Richie’s sad eyes with his own. Then he surged forward and pressed his lips against Richie’s. 

The kiss felt so much like the ones they would share in the past- sweet, a little rough and filled love, but where Richie’s kisses used to be warm, his lips were now cold. Eddie ignored this in favor of deepening the kiss, tongue finding its way into Richie’s mouth, his hands diving into Richie’s curls, messing up his hair. Richie kissed him back just as passionately, hands holding on to Eddie’s hips. 

The heat from the kiss died down and then they were just pressing their lips together. Short, sweet kisses, like the ones they used to share what felt like a lifetime ago, when they were awkward teenagers trying to figure out what they were doing. 

“Two weeks later, I fell asleep on the couch and woke up cold in the middle of the night, so I went to get a sweater from our closet and found our Halloween costumes for this year. Because you always planned that stuff with at least three months in advance.” Eddie said, tilting his head back enough to look Richie in the eye. “I broke down again.” 

Richie sighed and the remorse was apparent in his eyes. 

“I just- I couldn’t pretend that everything was the same. That it wouldn’t be six of us instead of seven. That I would be dressed as Tweedly-Dee but without my Tweedly-Dumb…” Eddie sniffled, not finishing the sentence. 

“It will get easier, Eds.” Richie said, softly. “Soon enough you won’t miss me at all.” 

Eddie lifted his head and he hit Richie’s arm. “Shut the fuck up. How can you say that?”

“It was a joke, Eddie my love.” 

“You’re dead, Richie. There is nothing funny about this.” Eddie said, clearly upset.

Richie’s smile dropped. “I- I’m sorry.”

Eddie sighed. “It’s okay. I would expect you to make at least one joke.” He said, with a sad smile. He played with Richie’s fingers where they rested on his leg. “Do you- What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Before I died?” Richie asked. Eddie nodded.

His eyebrows creased in the middle. “I- It’s all a little blurry. You know what’s funny? I don’t have my glasses anymore. And I can see just fine. Guess being dead has its perks.” When Eddie stared blankly at him, Richie shrugged and continued. “I remember calling you from the parking lot at work and getting in the car. Then, I was driving home and I remember the truck that hit me. Then there was a lot of noise and lights and movements and then just- nothing.”

“Nothing?”

Richie shook his head. “I’ve been getting these flashes. You’re in them and the others too. But I don’t know how much of it was real and how much of it is my own memories from when I was alive.” 

Eddie looked pensive. “They all miss you too, you know. The others.”

Richie let out a humorless laugh. “Good to know all those jokes about they wanting me gone were a lie.”

Eddie ignored the joke. “You know what’s the worst thing about you being gone?” Before Richie could answer with something silly, Eddie continued. “Sometimes I forget you’re not here. Sometimes, I wake up and I turn around on the bed, expecting to find you there, before everything comes crashing down on me and I remember. Or I find myself calling for you to come eat dinner or dialing your phone number. And it just doesn’t happen to me. A couple of days after your funeral, I was getting lunch with Bev, Stan and Mike. We were just talking and all of a sudden, Stan just turned to the empty seat on his left and said ‘Why are you so quiet Trashmouth?’” Eddie sighed. “His face crumbled after that. Bursted into tears. Mike had to go with him to the bathroom so he could calm down. Beverly and I just sat there.”

“Fuck.” Richie muttered. He didn’t know dead people could cry but he found himself wiping tears from his eyes, just picturing his friends, his family, suffering because of him. “Fuck, Eds, I-” 

“I know.” Eddie muttered. He grabbed Richie’s face in his hands. “It wasn’t your fault. Life is just fucked up.” He said, tears mirroring Richie’s. “But in case this is a one time thing, and those flashes are only memories, you need to know Richie, that we love you and we miss you so  _ so much _ ,” Eddie’s voice cracked, “not a day goes by that I don’t think about you or wish you were here with me. And maybe someday this pain will go away and it will become easier but- you’re the love of my life and I will never stop loving you.”

By the time he finished talking, Eddie was full on crying again. Face blotchy, vision blurry from the tears, a lump in his throat. And Richie was not far behind, his crying had always been more subtle than Eddie’s, but the silent tears that fell on his face were there, alright. 

“Eds I- you know I was never good at talking about my feelings, but you know that I’ve been in love with you my entire life. You are not just the love of my life, you  _ are  _ my life. Even in death, I still love you. And I don’t know what will happen after tonight, I don’t know if I’ll disappear forever or if I will ever come back, but it won’t matter where I am, my heart will always belong to you.” 

Richie kissed Eddie then, putting all of his feelings, his longing, his love, behind the kiss. Eddie responded just as forcefully. 

He could feel both of their tears running down their faces during the kiss and he promised himself that he was done crying. If this was the universe’s way of making it up to Eddie for taking Richie away from him, he was going to make the most of it. 

They broke apart and Eddie smiled sweetly at Richie.

“There’s still over an hour before midnight, do you want to cuddle and watch a Halloween movie, for old times sake?” 

Richie nodded and cradled Eddie’s face, before pressing a kiss to his forehead. They found the remote control buried under the cushions and settled on their favorite Halloween movie. Every year, without a fault they would watch it, together. Eddie had thought this would be the first year he didn’t. He hadn’t wanted to watch it without Richie, it wouldn’t feel right.

After all those years, they could recite the dialogue and even act out the movie itself, but by a silent agreement, they watched it without saying a word. At least, until Eddie caught sight of the watch on Richie’s hand and the way it was ticking down. Eddie’s fingers skimmed over it, as he let his mind wonder. 

“What do you think will happen? When the clock strikes midnight?” 

Richie’s arms tightened around him. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll turn into a pumpkin. And you can keep me here with you at all times.” Richie joked, Eddie lifted his head to half-heartedly glare at him, but there was a smile threatening to break on his face. He could also tell what Richie was about to say next. Even now, it was as if he could read Richie’s mind. 

“If you make a joke about how I can eat you anytime I want, I will personally send you back to the other side.” Eddie threatened, but the laughter in his voice could be heard. 

The room was filled with the sound of Richie’s laughter and oh, how much had Eddie missed that sound. “You really do know me, Eds.”

“But really, what do you think will happen?” Eddie insisted. 

Richie sighed. “I don’t know baby, maybe I’ll just disappear or drop down. Who knows? This is the first time I come back from the dead.” 

“I don’t want you to disappear. I don’t want you to go at all.”

“I don’t want to go either, Eds. But we still have a while and I would like to know what I’ve missed this past few months. You already told me the awful stuff, but I’m sure good things have happened as well.”

And so, Eddie took on the task of telling Richie about Bill’s new book getting published, about Stan’s promotion at the law firm and the success of Mike’s flower shop/bookstore. Richie smiled all through it, but when Eddie told him about how Ben and Bev were looking to get pregnant, after years of them waving off the other losers whenever they would urge them to have kids, Richie’s smile turned sad. His eyes filled with tears, both from happiness at their friends’ plans and sadness, that he wouldn’t be around to witness them. 

“A kid, huh? About damn time.” Richie said. “You better convince them to name him after me. Richard Hanscom. It has a nice ring to it.”

Eddie laughed. “What if it’s a girl?”

Richie pursed his lips in thought. “Ricarda?” Eddie scrunched up his nose. “Rachel? Rachel sounds good.”

An image of a little girl with the name Rachel, popped in Eddie’s mind. Only in Eddie’s fantasy, her last name wasn’t Hanscom, it was Tozier or Kaspbrak and she was his and Richie’s. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yeah, it does.” Eddie smiled, sadly. It was nothing more than a dream anymore, now that Richie was gone.

“I’m glad things are looking up for all of our friends. They deserve good things. They deserve happiness.” Richie said. “But so do you, Eds.”

Eddie looked up at him through his eyelashes. “ _ You _ were my good thing. My happiness.”

Richie turned his body to face Eddie on the couch, and he grabbed his face, bringing him to eye level. “I need you to promise me something. Before the spirit of Halloween gets here and drags me away.”

“What?”

“I need you to promise me that you’ll move on.” Eddie’s eyebrows raised and he opened his mouth to argue, but Richie prevented it. “Eddie, listen to me. I can’t deal with the fact that you will be miserable and alone for the rest of your life. And that it will be my fault.”

Eddie’s face fell and his voice was wavery when he answered. “I don’t think I will ever be happy without you.”

“I need you to  _ try _ .” Richie pleaded. “I’m not asking you to forget about me or to jump into a relationship, but I need you to live your life as fully and happy as you can. You deserve this. You deserve everything. And if I’m not here to give it to you, the least I can do, is to make sure you will get it.”

Eddie nodded, looking down at their laced fingers. “Okay. I- I can promise to try.”

“That’s all I can ask.” 

The movie had kept playing in the background and by now it was nearing its end, which meant their time together was too. A glance to Richie’s watch revealed it was only ten minutes until midnight. 

“We have close to no time left.” Eddie said. 

“Well, there’s a lot that we can do in ten minutes.” Richie said, going back to his jokes. “We proved that before. Bev’s 24th birthday, you dragged me to the bathroom after we finished our dinner, we were back before dessert was served…”

Eddie rolled his eyes and groaned. “We are not having sex, you idiot.” He said, laughing against his better judgement. 

Richie laughed as well. “Then what would you have me do, Eds?”

“Just… hold me.” Eddie whispered.

Richie’s face softened. “That I can do, my love.”

He cradled Eddie in his arms, tucking his head under his chin. He felt him round his waist with his arms, lacing his own fingers together on Richie’s lower back. They stayed like that for their remaining time, eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of each other’s embrace for as long as they could. When the time was close to one minute till midnight, Eddie pulled back slightly, enough to see Richie’s face. 

“You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Richie Tozier. You made me the happiest man on earth and I love you. I have always loved you. And I always will.” Eddie said, voice cracking. Tears had found their way down his cheeks again and he left them fall freely.

“I love you with all my heart, Eddie Kaspbrak.” Richie replied, firmly. He was crying too and his voice was filled with emotion.

The two of them leaned forward at the same time and their lips met in a final kiss as they ran out of time. They didn’t notice, too caught up in each other. At least, not until the pressure on Eddie’s lips was gone, the hands he had been holding on to, as well. And when he opened his eyes, there was only darkness around him and Eddie Kaspbrak was once again, alone in this house, with Richie gone and the ghost of his kiss still on his lips.  

**Author's Note:**

> TO EVERYONE WHO READ THIS, I AM SORRY.
> 
> If it makes you feel better, I cried while writing this, so I suffered too. 
> 
> Leave a comment or come yell at me on tumblr [jem-carstairs-is-perfection](http://jem-carstairs-is-perfection.tumblr.com/)


End file.
